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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Lakes of Love 4 Miler

Slow and easy was my motto for this race. Over the last two
months, with the help of my physical therapist, I have gone from not being able
to run one mile pain free to building up to three miles. It hasn’t been an easy
road, but each step I can take without pain is a victory to me.

Lakes of Love 4 miler had originally been on my race
calendar, but I took it off when things got rough. Two days before the race, I
registered. I lost zero sleep over this race. I promised everyone, including
myself, that I’d take it slow, do my walk/run intervals and stop as soon as I
felt any pain. If I didn’t finish, no big deal, all proceeds were going to
cancer research.

The course was almost identical to the Super Bowl 4 miler I
ran earlier this year. There were some small changes, but overall almost the
same route. The morning was beautiful, sunny and breezy.

Yes, my shirt says "Running Geek"

It was a small group of runners that morning, probably
roughly around 100 of us, plus a couple dogs. We all lined up and when one of
the volunteers yelled “Ready, set, GO”, one of the dogs in the crowd went
crazy. He was a little chiwawa mix with tiny short legs and he was doing a good
job of dragging his owner and trying to get to the front of the pack. Everyone
turned to look when he went ballistic with excited barking. I love dogs.

I started a little fast (like usual), but quickly corrected
myself. Things were going smooth and easy, but I couldn’t help but start
thinking of time goals. I set out to do intervals of 5-1, but with the excitement
of racing, I increased it to 6-1. We hit a steep downhill around a mile and a
half and I felt a couple pangs from my knee. I played tag with a couple people
not intervaling, but others were pulling away.

Around mile two, the route swung us by the park where the
race finish line was and for just an instant I considered bringing it in. No
one would blame me, but me. It was in that moment that I realized I was loosing
my carefree attitude and getting wrapped up in the race attitude which I
couldn’t afford to do. I gave myself a little mental lecture, slowed it down
and focused on the sound of my feet hitting the ground and the beautiful
morning around me. It was the perfect time for a change in perspective, because
just down the road the route changes from street to trail and took us on a path
by a gorgeous little lake.

I finished the race, out of breath, out of shape, with a
smile on my face. The Geek Girl Runner is back!